Too Late
by DragonGurl83
Summary: A RENT fic. A friend thinks about his lost friends. Mark POV R&R Please


A.N. OK everyone...this is my first story so try to be nice when reviewing. It is pretty sad. I was in a sad mood when I wrote it at like three in the morning. Oh well, here goes...  
  
Don't own RENT...wish I did though  
  
Too Late   
  
Those were such happy times I thought to myself. Why do moments like this have to end? The question that plagued my mind each time I watched my footage and each time I gave myself the same answer: nothing good can ever last. As the projector played on, the events of the past two years flooded my mind.  
  
After Mimi's incident things began to settle into its place. Roger moved into Mimi's apartment and Collins came back to his home in the loft. Things were great then. Everyone together, having fun at the Life Cafe, going to Roger's gigs and Maureen's protests or just hanging out at the loft...Mimi was even fighting her addiction to drugs! Things couldn't have been better...or so we thought.  
  
As if we jinxed ourselves things took a turn for the worst. After Mimi was finally clean she developed a cold. She brushed it off at first, saying it would go away in a week or two...but it didn't. A week soon turned into weeks and those weeks soon turned into months until she developed pneumonia. Roger was so determined to cure her, he sat by her side day and night watching her life dwindle away, as his did as well. He rarely ate or slept while nursing Mimi and only if someone else was there to watch over her he would leave her bedside. The only time he played his guitar any more was for Mimi and the only thing he would play was "Your Eyes". He prayed and hoped each day she would get better and life would be as it was but his hopes and prayers came unanswered. Mimi had passed away in her lover's arms.   
  
Roger moved back into the loft with Collins and me saying there were too many memories in that apartment. He tried to put on a fake act of happiness but we could see right through it, he was no longer the man I used to know. His appearance changed as well as his demeanor. He used to be so strong and proud but now, a shadow of that person. His eyes, which once glimmered with happiness now showed the pain and suffering he had been tormented with. He lost the women he loved the most in his life, first April then Mimi, to AIDS. The pain was too much for him to handle on his own. We each tried our hardest to help him cope but it was no use, Roger began to fade away from us. It hurt so much inside when he died. He was such a good friend, no, a best friend and I felt so guilty about his death. If I was such a great friend I should have been able to help him but the doctor said that he just wore himself out. Maureen, Joanne, Collins, and I knew the truth, he died of heartbreak.   
  
Life just seemed to move slow since then. No longer was it full of fun and merriment but pain and sadness. We tried to go on with our lives, but it just didn't seem right. It was as if each time we would put the pieces of our lives back together they would just fall apart again.   
  
One day, Collins developed a cold and we took precautions larger than normal. Joanne, Maureen, and I babied him to no end. I was determined to keep him alive, I'd be damned to lose another friend. We gave Collins every medication that was available as though it was our job to keep him alive. We were taking no chances. Our hard work and dedication seemed to pay off for a while but he soon took a turn for the worse. The sickness soon caught up with him and just like the others, he was taken away from us.   
  
Each of the funerals seemed to copy one another. Not too many people came, only a few friends and close relatives that cared enough to say their good-byes to their loved ones. Benny even came to each, offering to help with what he could. We tried to tell him no but he persisted, saying it was the least he could do, they were after all friends at some point in time.   
  
The loft is so empty and quiet now. Its already been two weeks since Collins died but it feels like only moments ago and yet an eternity age. I feel as though I will never get over any of their deaths. I never stop thinking that there may have been one more thing I could have done to help any of them...how could then all be gone...Angel, Mimi, Roger, and Collins. I pause for a moment in my thoughts to look up and see what is on the screen. Everyone together, happy and carefree, as it should be. I smile as a tear rolls down my cheek while I watch all of us, Maureen, Joanne, Collins, Angel, Roger, Mimi, and I, enjoying life. I close my eyes and make a promise to each of them that they will have a special place in my heart that no one will fill or replace.   
  
I quietly get up and turn the projector off, deciding I have given myself enough torment for today. I go and get myself a drink and set myself in front of the TV. I flip through the stations but nothing was on so I decided to just turn on the news. They were finishing up on a story about a house fire when the health-cast segment started. I couldn't believe what I heard. They developed a cure for AIDS and treatment was to begin next week for those would could pay the $500. for each of the three shots. Three lousy shots to end peoples suffering. I sit there in disbelief, shaking my head feeling complete anger saying aloud to myself, "A little to late don't you think?"  
  
*************  
The End  
OK now go and review please! 


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